A Small Little Girl
by happysmiles159
Summary: When Arthur and Francis come upon a small girl while they're out on a walk events lead them to bring her home. FACE family story.
1. Welcome Home

France looked down at the little girl in England's arms. She was caked with dirt and her white nightgown-like dress was dirty beyond repair. The red ribbon around the neck was still the bright red, it was the only part of the dress that could be kept to be worn again. Her short blond hair was obviously dirty and needed to be washed, but besides that the only real worry some thing was the fever. That was the entire reason they were taking her in, anyway. They had walked past her for a while now, every day, and today they found her curled up and asleep in a ball by the wall that she called home. It wasn't until today they finally decided to take her in, knowing very well now that she didn't have a family.

As the approached the house the girl continued to sleep, her face now redder than before and England claimed that her fever was getting steadily higher. England could tell that France was getting concerned about the small girl in his arms, and he knew that his own concerned showed on his face. They laid her down on the couch in the living room to let her sleep until she woke up and they could give her a bath. It was late morning so the boys wouldn't be home soon, but they would have to get her fever down soon. The two took turns doing work until the little girl woke up. They were actually switching once the little girl's violet eyes opened with a slight haze in her eyes.

"Peace," England asked sitting next to the small body on the couch, "are you feeling alright?"

The little girl looked around the room she was in, as soon as she didn't know where she was she sat up and tried to figure it out. The room around her spun and she rubbed her eyes, trying to figure it all out. She had fallen asleep last night, but how did she end up here?

"Peace," England asked again. This time pushing the strands of hair out from out of her face to get her attention, "how do you feel?"

Peace looked up at the man that was sitting next to her. She knew him as Arthur, that was how he introduced himself. He asked her the question again, and she put a hand on her stomach that wasn't happy for some reason. The man she knew as Francis sat down on her other side and rubbed her back in an attempt to make the small child feel better. He suggested to the young girl that she take a bath, but she simply slumped against the man and closed her eyes. France and Arthur exchanged a look before Francis picked the small girl up and carrying her upstairs to the tub. While Arthur got the bath ready and Francis got Peace ready for the bath Peace just seemed to slump against Francis in a half asleep state. Once she was in the tub Peace woke up a little bit and stared at the two men while they cleaned her so that she didn't have dirt caked onto her anymore. Once her bath was done Francis put her in one of his t-shirts to sleep in, which she basically already was.

When Alfred and Matthew got home their Papa was waiting on the front steps for them. He told them about Peace while Arthur watched from the living room window, and watched his two sons react to the news. They both were surprised at the news, and the two of them actually sat outside for about an hour thinking about it before they came into the house.

They found a small body tucked away under layers of colorful blankets when they walked in. They stared at it for a moment before Alfred pulled the tops of the blankets away to see the small sleeping girl that was covered with a shirt that they knew belonged to their Papa. She was very pale and the only red in her face was from the fever that had taken over her small body. Matthew quickly pushed Alfred's hand back so that the small girl was covered again. He remembered what he felt like when he was sick, and was quick to take pity on the small girl.

It was about dinner time that night when Peace woke up again. Francis made her some soup to eat, and ended up feeding it to her instead of eating dinner with the rest f the family. The two young boys quickly ate their dinner once Peace was awake, they wanted to go talk to her and really meet her. Alfred sat on her left while Matthew sat on her right, and the two simply watched their Papa feed the small girl her dinner.

"This is Alfred and Matthew," Francis told her while he fed her. "They're going to be your big brothers from now on, okay?"

Peace nodded before Francis held out the spoon for her again so that she could eat the last of her soup.

Alfred smiled at the small girl, "So do you like heroes?"

Peace simply stared back at the boy, afraid to answer.

"Do you like hockey and snow," Matthew asked her instead.

Her gaze switched to Matthew.

"Can you talk," Alfred asked a bit louder.

Peace looked at Alfred again, this time blinking at him and wondering what she should do.

Arthur was watching from the doorway to the kitchen, "She doesn't talk lads," he told them. "We don't know why but she doesn't. Please don't force her to do anything right now. Just let her rest until she's better; then we'll figure something out.

The two boys agreed with there father with a nod, before giving their new sister a hug and running off to do their homework. That night Peace slept on the couch with a baby monitor not too far away from her. Francis and Arthur slept in their room with the other end of the monitor on their nightstand in case Peace needed something. They woke up every now and then when Peace would make some sort of noise, only to find that she had transferred what was in her stomach into a bucket that had been put there earlier. It was a long night for the two of them, but when they woke up late the next day they found that the their two sons were sitting on the floor of the living room watching TV in front of the couch Peace was sleeping on. The two had cleaned her up a little bit and had washed out the bucket, claiming that they wanted to take care of their little sister no matter what.


	2. Shopping

Arthur pulled the dress over Peace's head. She had been around for only five days now, but the clothes that they had bought for her were too small. Francis had returned most of the clothes, but hey had yet to get her new ones. She had finally gotten over her flu yesterday, but she had slept most of the day to recoup from the sickness. Alfred and Matthew were wonderful while Peace was sick, and it took a lot of work to get the pair to part ways with their sister so they didn't get sick as well. Since it was about time for Halloween they all needed to go get costumes for Alfred and Matthew, so the two parents decided to make it a shopping day. Once the dress was on Peace gave Arthur a desperate look and tried to pull at it.

"It can't be that tight," he told her aloud. "Are they really that small?"

Peace nodded unhappily and pulled at the material for a little while before she stopped and looked a little more comfortable. She refused to put her shoes and socks on, simply moving her feet around so that her daddy couldn't put the shoes on. He finally gave up when everyone else came into the room because they were taking so long, and finally suggested that he give up. Alfred and Matthew attempted to try, but it didn't work for them either. They finally gave up and Francis balanced her on his hip so that she wouldn't be running around barefoot.

"Can we go shopping for Peace first," Alfred asked for both he and his brother. "We wanna pic out clothes for her."

So that was where they went first at the market, to the clothing store. Francis got a cart for them and placed Peace in the small cart seat so that she wouldn't run away. The twins almost ran off as soon as they got into the store because they wanted to pick everything out. It didn't take long to figure out what size clothes to get Peace, she was just one more size up to what she was wearing now. After that the twins went wild and seemed to be grabbing whatever they thought was cute and could fit in their arms. Francis and Arthur just went through everything as it was put in the cart, telling the two to go put some things away that they didn't like and only really leaving the cart to pick up something that they saw they liked. Once they had a considerable amount of clothes in the cart they went to go get other things that they knew would be necessary. They got toys, stuffed animals, some dolls, and a tea set that the little girl wanted. They found quickly that she didn't like being in the cart for very long, and they had to let her run around without shoes.

The next store that they went to was the Halloween store. Matthew and Alfred ran up to the racks of costumes and grabbed the ones that they liked, racing to the dressing rooms to try on what they found. The two managed to come out in everything from cowboys to pirates, from ninjas to super heroes. They loved trying on Halloween costumes, but they finally settled on super hero (Alfred) and a fireman (Matthew). Peace simply stayed in Arthur's arms while they tried everything on, and stayed very quiet. When they were done trying things on Alfred and Matthew decided to give their parents a 'surprise' and took Peace from Arthur and told their dads to close their eyes. When they let their dads open their eyes again they found Peace dressed as a little panda. She was wearing black leggings, white tights, a black tutu, and a panda hoodie that had a panda's face and ears on the hood. She looked adorable. Francis picked her up and muttered something in French while Arthur just looked at his sons with a surprised look, normally the two boys kept to themselves and didn't really get along with other kids for a long time before getting to know them.

The last stop on the list, after lunch, was the furniture store to set up Peace's new room. While she was sick Francis managed to clean out an old storage room, that was meant to be a bedroom, for Peace's room. Now they needed furniture for it. While the two adults questioned exactly what furniture to buy the three kids sort of curled up in a corner and managed to take a nap. When the two were done with their purchase and loading it up in the car (which was tight for space) the three moved to the car and continued to sleep until they got home. Once there Alfred and Matthew were fully awake, but Peace was still fast asleep. The two boys did their homework in their conjoined rooms while they listened to their fathers struggle with the new room.

When Peace woke up she found that no one was downstairs, and decided to go outside and play with her new doll that she was holding when she fell asleep. The doll had ginger hair and blue eyes, and had on a cute little dress. When she got outside she held the doll close as she sat down on the porch steps. She sat there for a long time playing with her doll's hair, only to be pulled out of her thoughts later when a red car came up the drive with no top. Inside the car were two men. One had white hair and the other had brown. They didn't recognize her until they were walking up the small path to the porch, and they just stopped and looked at her.

"Arthur," Francis called climbing up the stairs, "Where's Peace?"

Arthur met the man at the top of the stairs with a surprised look, "Isn't she asleep?"

"No, she isn't, and I can't find her anywhere."

Arthur turned and went to Alfred's room to find the door of the connecting rooms open, "Do either of you have Peace?"

Neither of the boys knew where she was, leaving the two parents of the toddler to wonder in panic where she had run off to. Outside the little girl stared up at the two strange men, who had come closer, wondering who they were. She had seen them when they passed by her old home every now and then, but they never stopped to talk to her like Papa and Daddy did. They ignored her and kept talking while they walked.

"Hola, Como estas," be brown haired one asked crouching down in front of her.

The toddler wiggled in her seat a little and held out her wrist to the man, showing him the peace-sign-mark that was there. He looked at it curiously and didn't understand, neither did the white haired man. He simply yelled 'why is this little girl here' and looked angrily at his friend. She heard the door open behind her, but didn't have time to turn around as she watched Papa run straight into the standing white haired man and they both toppled over into the grass. The brown haired one laughed while Francis yelled at Prussia for being in his way when he needed to find 'Peace'.

"Peace," Prussia screamed in confusion, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"I mean my daughter," Francis screamed getting up off the ground.

Peace stood up and clutched her doll tightly, not really sure what was going to happen.

Spain saw this and smiled, "Amigo, she's right here."

Francis turned to see Peace staring at the scene with large, confused, frightened eyes. He walked over and lifted her up into his arms while he said something in French under his breath, and then seemed to lecture her. Peace nodded her head every now and then in what seemed to be understanding while the two new comers watched. Francis ushered Peace back into the house and called to Arthur that he had found her, and that Spain and Prussia had come over.


	3. At The Candy Store

Arthur lifted the small girl up so that she could see what was in the case. She and the boys had been on their best behavior over the weekend while Francis and he were away, and they had been promised a trip to the candy store when they got back as a treat. Although Francis was now tied up with work Arthur had brought the kids. The boys were already running around and picking things out, but Peace was still too small and didn't know what to do. He lifted her up so that she could see the different chocolates in the large case, and he explained what each one was to her. He could remember when Alfred and Matthew had come here for the first time, they didn't know what everything was either, and only got one thing each.

"Who's this cutie," the teenage girl behind the counter asked.

Peace looked up at the girl hesitantly before extending her arm to show her the peace-sign-birthmark that she had.

The girl laughed with a smile and traced the mark gently, "How old are you sweetie?"

The blank look from Peace caused the direction to turn to Arthur, who wasn't 100% sure how old the girl was himself, "We found her out on the street. She doesn't talk and she's been alone for a long time, so we don't know."

"Aww," the teen responded with a smile. "Well then, how about a chocolate strawberry for the little princess? On the house, of course."

Peace watched with confusion as the women moved to get something out of the large counter and then reached over the counter with something red and brown wrapped in a strange paper. Arthur urged her to take it, which she did in the end, and then take a bit of it. The teen and the father watched as the small girl's face lit up with a smiled after her first small bite. The Strawberry it's self was huge and couldn't really fit into Peace's mouth in one bite. Arthur got a few more for her and a lollipop before paying for that and the candy the boys picked out and taking them outside. The four sat at a small table that was set up outside while the three kids ate one piece of candy each. Peace still was working on the Strawberry while she sat in Arthur's lap, while Alfred are a chocolate bar and Matthew ate a few caramels that he had picked out.

As they sat there and waited a familiar figure walked down the street. He decided to walk up to what he thought was the trio and say hello, hopping that he wouldn't have to really go back to running errands. As he approached Matthew and Alfred waved and said hello, while Arthur was polite and offered him the last chair at the table. That's when Ivan saw the small blond girl in the pink dress that was sitting in Arthur's lap. She was almost done eating a strawberry and had chocolate all around her mouth. She was cute.

"Who's this," he asked patting the small girl on the head awkwardly. He didn't really spend time around little kids, and didn't know how to act around them.

The little girl looked up at him with big eyes while Alfred and Matthew explained what had happened, and then how they got their treats. They also told him all about how Peace had gotten sick, and how she got in trouble for going outside, and how when Daddy and Papa were away they had a tea party with her. While they explained the small girl lifted up the half eaten strawberry to Arthur's face, trying to give him a taste. He declined and told the small girl that he didn't want anything sweet at the moment. The girl went back to slowly devouring the fruity and sweet treat before looking back up at Ivan and extending the offer to him.

Ivan smiled politely, "No small one, it's not mine."

The little girl continued to just stare at the man and extend the offer, not fully understanding what the man had said, until Ivan finally caved in and took a very small bite of the strawberry to please the young girl. Ivan and Arthur ended up talking for a little bit longer before it was time to part ways and go back to what they were doing. As Ivan stood up Peace looked up at him again, this time standing on the ground and seeing how tall the man really was, before she managed to reach up to his scarf. Somehow she managed to get herself to swing back and forth, inches off the ground, hanging onto the Russian's precious scarf while he laughed and smiled down at her.


	4. Before Uncle Panda's House

The alarm woke Arthur and Francis up. Neither of them really wanted to get up, but they knew that they had a full day and couldn't get around it. Arthur was the first to get up and start getting ready, while Francis just moved to take up the entire bed so that he wouldn't have to get up. The British man was doing his tie in the mirror when the French man finally spoke up.

"Do you think we can do it," Francis asked.

Arthur looking into the man's eyes through the mirror, he wasn't sure if he wanted to but he had to.

"Can we really leave our little princess in Yao's care?"

The Englishman went into his closet to get his shoes, "Chun-Yung will be there as well, Francis. Peace will be just fine." Although his body made him look certain about this his voice wavered.

Today was the first day that both Francis and Arthur had to be at a meeting and both of the boys a school. They knew that they couldn't leave Peace alone for the entire day, so they had been in a spot. While they were out one day they had met Chung-Yung, Yao's female twin, and she wanted to take peace home with her. When Yao found out that they needed some help he managed to mention it to Chung-Yung, who immediately offered to take care of the girl. They didn't have any meetings that day because they were already staying home taking care of their siblings. Having no other option the Arthur and Francis accepted the offer, but in the month that Peace had been here they hadn't left her with anyone else.

As Francis started to get ready Arthur went to go get the boys up for school. He woke Matthew up and then Alfred, figuring that Francis would wake Peace up once he was dressed. While the boys brushed their teeth in the bathroom Arthur laid out their clothes for the day. Although the boys could dress themselves they still weren't able to put outfits together so that they look appropriate for school. Once he was done he headed downstairs to start making breakfast. He set out cereal and juice for the boys and Peace before making his tea and starting the coffee for Francis. After a little while Arthur heard the two boys coming down the stairs while Francis moved about upstairs as well. The boys had just entered the kitchen when a thud was heard from above, and everyone just seemed to stop and see what was going on.

Upstairs Francis heard the thud while he was brushing his teeth. It had come from Peace's room, but he thought that Arthur had already brought her downstairs. He took the sword that was mounted on the wall off of it and started down the hall with the toothbrush still in his mouth. The sword had been from Arthur's pirate days years ago, but he had mounted it on the wall as some sort of treasure from those times. Peace's door was slightly ajar, so Francis simply nudged it open to find that it was dark. He heard movement from the blankets and quietly peaked into the dark room. There was a form on the floor that he couldn't make out, so he quickly turned the light on and stepped into the room without a thought to hid the sword.

On the floor was a bundle of blankets with Peace's head poking out and looking up at him. He looked over to her bed to see that none of her blankets were on her bed anymore, and he just looked around wondering what was going on. Peace's eyes were trained on the sword. When Francis looked back at the little girl he found that her eyes were tearing up. He sat the sword down on the top of the dresser and went to go untangle the little girl, but the closer he got to her the more she seemed to cry. When he tried to unwrap her from the sheets she screamed and started to sob and tried to wiggle away from the man. His heart broke seeing his little girl's tears, but he continued to unwrap her from the pink and purple blankets. Once she was unwrapped the little girl seemed to be out of the room at record speed.

Downstairs Arthur, Alfred, and Matthew were surprised when Peace was suddenly running sobbing through the kitchen. Arthur stopped her and by the time Francis was downstairs Peace was sobbing into Arthur's chest and holding onto his shirt with her small fists. The two boys at the table just stared at the sight in confusion, and then looked at their Papa once he made his way through the doorway to the kitchen.

"What happened, frog," Arthur asked rubbing the small girl's back.

"Well, I was brushing my teeth," Francis started.

"PAPA," Alfred shouted from his seat, "why is your toothpaste still in your mouth?!"

"Because of what happens in the rest of the story," Francis answered wiping his mouth off. "I was brushing my teeth and I heard a thump from Peace's room. I thought that peace was down here with you, so I thought that it was an intruder, maybe Germany was trying to invade or something, so I took a sword from the wall and went to go check it out."

Arthur looked down at the sobbing girl in his arms and then back at Francis, "So she's upset because you came into the room with a sword?"

"I put the sword down," Francis clarified, "and then untangled her from her cocoon of blankets that she was in. As I got closer to her she started to cry even more."

Arthur started to bounce the little girl to try to get her to sleep, or at least to calm down. Her sobs started to calm down to sniffles a little. Francis had moved to the other side of the counter and finished brushing his teeth quickly, and telling the boys to eat up so that they could get going. Everything wen back to normal for a little bit before Arthur went to hand Peace back over to Francis sot that he could eat and Francis could get her ready for the day, but Peace screamed and started to cry again almost as soon as she saw him. That sort of decided that Arthur was going to get her ready for the day and Francis had to watch the boys.

"Think it could have something to do with her scars," Matthew asked Alfred while he ate.

Alfred stopped feeding himself and thought for a minute, "I'm not sure. Hey Papa! Where do scars come from?"

Francis was pouring his coffee and gave the blond twins a questioning look, "Scars happen when you get really hurt. Why are you asking?"

Alfred turned and put another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, leaving Matthew to answer the question. "No reason, Papa."

Francis went and sat down in an open chair around the circle table, "You don't ask a question if you don't have a reason. So what's wrong?"

Both boys looked down at their half empty bowls and took another spoonful to shove into their mouths, trying to get the other to answer a question. When their father just looked at them both of them decided that it was time to go to school, and ran to the foyer. Francis knew that they were up to something, and followed them to the foyer with the cup of coffee in his hand. The morning was already strange, but now it really was weird.

"No matter how fast you get ready we aren't leaving any sooner. Your father still needs to eat," Francis told the two.

The two boys slowly stopped and turn towards their father. Matthew's stuffed bear was now being held to his chest, obviously it was show and tell day at school. Alfred played with his sheriff's badge that he was proudly wearing on his shirt as something to do besides looking at his father.

Matthew was the brave one today, "You know the scars on Peace's arms, and back, and chest, and tummy, and the one on her leg?"

Francis looked at the two as if they were insane, Peace had scars? He had washed her several times during the last month, normally Arthur did it, but he does it at least twice a week. He had seen marks all over her, but they were the same pale skin as the peace sign on her arm, he figured that they were all just birthmarks. He told the two as much and they simply looked at the ground and shook their heads.

"No Papa," Alfred told him quietly, "they're scars."

"Now how do you know this," Francis asked leaning on the door frame.

Alfred looked up at his father with some tears in his eyes, "Benny has a scar! Those marks look just like his scar! They're scars Papa!"

Francis just looked at Matthew, who nodded his head in agreement with his brother. Francis simply suggested that the boys go finish breakfast, and then watched as they went through the family and dinning room to get back to the kitchen to finish their food as they were told. While Francis walked upstairs in a thoughtful mood. They could be scars, or they could be birthmarks. He stood outside of Peace's door and leaned against the wall there. He knocked on the door and talked to Arthur when he came to answer it. The two quietly debated for a minute and Arthur claimed that he would figure it out while he dressed her.

It was about an hour later when Arthur and Francis pulled up to the Chinese house with Peace holding her unicorn stuffed animal close to her in the car seat. In the time that it took the two men to drop off the boys at school Peace had calmed down in the backseat a little bit. She stayed close to everyone but Francis for the rest of the morning, and no one could figure out why. She had started to cry when her Papa had gotten in the car, but Arthur told the boys to ignore it and she would stop. He was right, by the time they got to the school Peace had quieted down, but once the boys left you could tell that she was upset about it. When the two got out of the car Francis stood and watched Arthur take the small girl out of her seat. Right after that they two went up to the door, and you could now tell by her physical body language that she was upset that Francis was so close to her.

Chung Yung answered to door and seemed very happy. Arthur kissed Peace's forehead and told her to behave, and he would be back to pick her up once Alfred and Matthew were done with school before saying good bye. She wouldn't let Francis do it though, which seemed to confuse everyone. Chung Yung took Peace from the two with a confused and panicked look, but got her to wave to the two as they drove away.

"They are scars," Arthur told Francis as they sat at the light by the Chinese house. "That peace sign, it isn't a birthmark, it's a scar too."

"But, mon ami," Francis debated aloud, "why did she run and cry because of me?"

"You had the sword," Arthur decided as he drove forward. "I think that she was afraid of that; maybe that has something to do with it."

Francis continued to look out the window while a still atmosphere filled the car. He couldn't decide what to say or how to phrase it if he were to say anything. "So what do we do," he asked as they pulled into a parking spot.

Arthur turned the car off and leaned back in his chair, "Take her to a doctor? Then we can find out for sure, and see if anything else is wrong."


	5. At Uncle Panda's House

"PEACE IS HERE," The Chinese girl called as she took off Peace's shoes.

"Everyone's in the kitchen," a strange voice called.

Peace watched as the women took her shoes off. Peace held her small white and brown dog close to her chest, not wanting to let it out of her sight. Her Papa was going to attack her this morning, and then her Daddy left her here, and so did her Papa. As the women put Peace's shoes to the side she heard a quiet sniffle and saw that the small girl was crying. Chun-Yung simply smiled and hugged the girl close, knowing that she had apparently had a very rough morning, before picking her up and carrying the silently crying girl to the kitchen. Through her teary eyes Peace saw the women with brown hair and golden eyes smile down at her and carry her into a room that seemed busy. The tallest one was wearing white-ish pants and a weird red top. Peace couldn't figure out if the tallest one was a girl or a boy, it had long hair, but if he was the voice from earlier he sort of sounded like a guy.

"Is she alright, aru" the strange voice asked coming from the person.

"She had a long morning," the women answered. "Peace, do you want to meet everyone? Or do you want to go take a nap?"

Peace simply tucked her face into the women's chest and closed her eyes. She felt a soothing hand smooth out her hair and she felt the women move somewhere. When Peace revealed her face she was in an unfamiliar room, and the women was putting her on a bed. The women laid down next to her and pet her hair with a smile. Chun-Young looked down at the small confused child with a smile. She didn't know the full extent of what the little girl had been through, but knew that she needed sleep. Chun-Yung started to hum a song that was in the back of her head and the little girl fell asleep pretty quickly. Once that happened she turned to see that Yao was standing in the doorway to her bedroom. She could hear their small siblings eating at the table, but didn't really care.

The man came over and sat on the other side of the bed, he was obviously tired and needed sleep. He laid down next to the small sleeping body and just watched her for a little before saying that she was cute. Within minutes the old man was sleep, and Chun-Yung couldn't help but want to take a picture of the two. She did, taking the camera out of her nightstand drawer to take the picture. It was cute, something that she would have to give England and France.

When China woke up from his nap a little blond girl was poking his face to wake him up. He smiled up at her and she pulled back to sit on her but with her hands in her lap, as if she were going to get hit or be lectured or something. China just sat up so that his elbows were supporting him and brushed some hair out of the small child's face. He introduced himself to her with a smile, and she seemed to accept it with a smile. They walked out of the room with him holding her hand and leading her to the backyard where the rest of the kids were playing. He called them over and had them introduce themselves one at a time.

The little boy in a blue dress-like-thing with brown hair and brown eyes was called Japan, and he ran around barefoot. The loudest brown haired boy was wearing a white dress-like-thing, but with a blue vest thing and white socks. His name was Korea, but he was very loud. The quietest one was named Hong Kong. He was wearing black pants and a red and gold dress-thing like China's, but he wore shoes. The one with a pink top, white skirt, and a flower in her hair was named Taiwan. She was the only little girl in the house, and if you got her mad she was sort of scary. They were all really nice though, and they just sort of dragged her into the game.

"Can you talk," Hong Kong asked loudly.

Peace just stared at him and hugged her puppy close to her chest.

Hong Kong started to scream, "China! Big Sissy! She can't talk!"

Chun-Yung was sitting on the porch writing something and didn't look up, "Be nice, Hong Kong. If she doesn't want to she doesn't have to."

"She can't talk," he continued to complain.

"Be nice," China yelled at him. "If you can't play nice then you can come work on your calligraphy, aru."

They all were outside for about two hours. The two guardians worked at the porch while everyone else played so that they could get their work done. Hong Kong didn't complain again, but you could tell that he was frustrated that the new girl stayed mute. Peace and Hong Kong seemed to work together well, so did she and Japan. She didn't really get along with Taiwan though, but no one could really figure out why. When Yao went to go work on lunch everyone went to the dinning and living room to work on something. Chun-Yung tried to get Peace to lead aloud, but Peace refused and just looked up and watched the women as she read aloud.

Lunch was strange to Peace, but the food was good and as soon as she took a bite she smiled. China asked if she liked it and Peace smiled and nodded as she took another bite. She was using her hands though, instead of the chopsticks. Chun-Yung told Yao just to ignore it, but the other kids just watched her in confusion before continuing to eat their meal. He wasn't very surprised when the phone rang and Francis was on the other end. He already knew what had happened that morning, and sort of felt bad for the guy.

"I have a favor to ask," Francis seemed to beg, "I hate to ask but we think that Peace may have some scars, and we would like to get a second opinion on it. Is it possible that you could take a look?"

China looked over to the table where the small blond girl was messily eating her food. She would need to change her clothes after this anyway, would it really hurt to take a look at the supposed scars? "Sure, I can do that. Would you like to talk to her, Francis? I heard what happened this morning, that she didn't want to say good bye to you."

On the other end of the line Francis smiled, "No, I don't want to upset her. Just take a look at the marks, please?"

"Of course. I'll see you later, and we can talk then, aru."

When lunch was done Hong Kong complained that Peace was too messy, while Japan told him not to talk like that because Peace was a guest and she deserved respect. China set to the job of sending everyone to bed for their naps. Hong Kong was the hardest of them all, as normal, Yao had to simply lock him in his room and sit there until he was finally silent. He did wait until he heard the soft snoring of the childish toddler. When he got back his female twin was sitting across from Peace at the dinning room table, asking her yes and no questions to try to get to know the girl a little better.

Peace really was a mess. Her dress had spots all over it, and food that was hidden in the pockets and in the folds. Yao wasn't surprised when he lifted her up and some rice fell to the floor. He had a button up shirt that the little girl would wear with her tights while he washed her dress, so after telling his twin what he was going to do Yao brought Peace to his room so that he cold change her. The little girl seemed to be enchanted at the pandas that were everywhere in the room, and didn't put up a fight while China undressed her like he did with all of his younger siblings. When the girl was just in her bloomers and tights China was able to see exactly what France had described. The pale scars lined her back. Some were drawings and others were just lines. They all overlapped, and the pictures blended into one another. He could make out some: a sun, a moon, a cat, a house, some stick figures, a heart, and what seemed to be a few stars. Her skin was already so pale that the scars didn't seem to show, which explained how Francis and Arthur had missed them. They were everywhere on the little girl's torso, but she seemed to just ignore them and focus on the pandas in the room instead.

When the little girl was sleeping on the couch Yao couldn't help but just watch her and wonder what she had been through. She was playing with the others with such a smile that it didn't seem to make a difference to her. She even let him hold her stuffed animal for her. She smiled and laughed, but she was quiet. He understood how her family had fallen in love with her.

When everyone was up they all went and played in the front yard. Chun-Yung watched them on her own while Yao did some work. They were playing hide and go seek for a while, then tag, and then Japan asked if they could make a fort out of the blankets in the living room. Somehow they managed to make a tent out of a few blankets, but that was all they could come up with. Japan read them some of his books in the tent, and Hong Kong claimed 'no big sister' was aloud in. She loved to watch them, they were all always so happy.

Arthur and Francis pulled up with Alfred and Matthew in the back at about four fifteen. Yao came out and greeted them. The two older boys were put in charge of the younger ones while the adults talked inside. The kids didn't know what was going on, but they liked the idea of being independent and not having the adults around. The adults sat in the dinning room to talk, knowing that the older boys would just listen to Japan read and help him along. They were really good with little kids, but they weren't around them very much.

"So I think that those are scars," Yao explained.

Chun-Yung looked at her twin as if he was insane, "they're drawings, Yao. DRAWINGS. Someone did that on purpose and left those scars there. There are just so many and her skin is so pale that you can't tell the difference."

Arthur looked at the girl in confusion, "you saw them too?"

"Yao was so spooked that I couldn't help but look, aru!"

Arthur sighed and put his head in both of his hands. Francis simply sat back and tried to decide what to say.

Francis simply smiled a little bit, "Then it's a good thing that her doctor appointment is tomorrow, isn't it?"

"How did the day go," Arthur asked to change the subject.

Both of the twins smiled, the same exact smile that made everything seem like nothing was wrong.

"She was wonderful," the female said.

"You wouldn't be able to tell that she had those scars," the male agreed. "Or that she had such a rough morning."


	6. Doctor's Appointment

Arthur tied the bow in Peace's hair as a final touch to her look for the day. Although she was going to the doctor he decided to make her look nice. Her dress was purple today with a blue and red ribbon. She looked cute and simply sat on her bed swinging her legs a little bit. It was the day after her trip to China's house, but now she didn't cry when Francis was around, now she simply stayed by everyone else but him and stayed away from him. She didn't even say good night to the poor man, she simply ran off to her bedroom when it was time to go to bed. This morning she did the same thing, but she did give her Papa a quick hug while he made breakfast. Now the boys were on the bus, so it was time for the doctor's appointment. Arthur wasn't sure what to do, he had a meeting with Switzerland that day so Francis had to take her. Arthur had made sure that Peace was alright with that, but she didn't seem to understand exactly what was going on.

When Arthur went to leave his little girl was sitting in the middle of the garden room coloring in one of her books. He said goodbye to her and she gave him a hug, but she looked sort of afraid. She hid it very well, though and watched from the front porch as her Daddy left in the car. When she went back inside her Papa was watching her from his seat in the garden room, seeming to wait for her to return to her coloring. They had about a half hour before they had to leave, so she could play however she wanted. He sat in a chair and read while she played, just letting her get used to the idea of being alone with him again. Peace seemed to get used to it, but when he got up to start to pack a bag Peace's eyes snapped up to him and she froze. As he moved around in the kitchen she watched him like a hawk and she stayed completely still.

"Are you done coloring," Francis asked squatting in front of the still girl. "Can I see?"

Peace slowly looked down at the coloring sheet and lifted it up to her Papa slowly.

Francis took it from her with a smile and looked at the drawing. It was a picture of a house with five stick figures out front in the yard. The smallest figure seemed to be Peace, and Matthew and Alfred were on either side of her. Next to Alfred was Arthur with a tea cup, and next to Matthew was Francis with what seemed to be a sword.

"Is that my sword," he asked Peace pointing to it and showing it to her.

Peace nodded slowly, her eyes were wide and she seemed afraid, but she still didn't say a word as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Why do I have my sword?"

Peace slowly pointed up with her entire arm , but kept her eyes trained on her Papa.

Francis thought about it, trying to quickly put the pieces together. "Is it because of what happened yesterday?" He watched as Peace covered her eyes with both of her hands as quickly as she could, and balled up a little bit. Francis put the picture down and crawled over so that he was sitting next to Peace and put a hand on her back. "I wasn't going to do anything chéri. I thought that someone had come into the house when they weren't supposed to be here. I didn't want you to get hurt so I was going to use the sword to escort them out of the house. I would never hurt you, not you paix."

Peace peaked through her fingers so that she could look up and see her Papa. He looked hurt, and he looked sad. She put her hands down and hugged his arm with a sad look. Francis smiled down at the girl, she was trying to make it better and he couldn't help but smile at how the little girl tried to fix everything.

"It's time to go to your doctor appointment, sweetheart," Francis told her after he kissed his daughter's blond hair. "We have to get going."

Peace looked up at Francis with a confused look, but allowed him to pick her up and take her to the foyer to put her coat on. She didn't cry or freeze when he buckled her up in the car. During the car ride Francis put on the CD that Peace loved and she smiled and bounced in time with the music. They pulled up to the building and Peace just looked at it through the window, trying to figure out what was going on. Once the car was turned off Francis unbuckled himself and got Peace out of her car seat before throwing the bag over his shoulder and carrying her inside of the building. The doctor's office was full of bright colors, and there were toys and books everywhere. Peace managed to wiggle out of her Papa's arms to go play with the toys scattered all over the floor. She played while he checked in and filled out all of the paperwork that he needed to, and then watched her while they waited to be called back.

When they were called back the nurse understood the situation and seemed to be very encouraging to get Peace to do something. The only problem was that Peace didn't want to do what the nurse said, instead she just held onto her Papa's pant leg and stayed close to him. When he gently pushed her forward and encouraged her to do what the nurse asked Peace did what the nurse said. The first thing was getting her height measured, and as she walked to stand against the wall she looked back at her Papa with concerned eyes, and did what the nurse told her to.

"You're such a big girl," the nurse enthusiastically told her taking the measurement. "You're really tall, I bet that you're as tall as your big brothers, aren't you?"

Peace giggled and smiled at the nurse, and stood on the scale like the nurse said with only one look at her Papa for approval. Francis was the barely had to help the nurse once they go into the room, he just lifted his daughter up onto the examination table and told her that she was doing very well. When the nurse left and they were waiting for the doctor Francis told Peace how well she was doing and how well the appointment was going. Peace simply wiggled in her seat and smiled up at her Papa. The doctor came in fairly soon, but had Francis talk with him out in the hall for a moment. The two quickly went over what was going to happen at the appointment so that they were on the same page, and when they went back in the doctor simply started.

The doctor was wonderful, and after a few minutes Peace seemed to be alright with the doctor. First the doctor did a very simple physical, which went well. After that was the hard things that everyone knew would get tough for the little girl. Francis could still remember when Alfred and Matthew had to get shoots when they were younger, it was horrible for he and Alfred. With the two of them the could barely hold the two down so that the doctor could give them the shoots, but with Peace a lot more things would have to be done. The doctor wanted to do some blood work, so they would need to prick Peace's finger to do that. The nurse came in with the supplies, and had Francis hop up onto the examination table and hold Peace in his lap. France wrapped one arm around the girl so that her left arm was against her side, and he held out her right hand to the nurse. He told Peace that it was going to hurt a little, but it would be alright in a few minutes and he wouldn't let go until she told him to. The little girl's eyes watched the nurse as she put the blue thing to her finger, and to Francis' dismay tears welled up in Peace's eyes. She started to cry a little as they drew the blood, but she just sort of hid her face in her Papa's shirt so that the doctor and nurse couldn't see her cry. When they were done Francis simply hugged Peace until she was okay, but even then she stayed on his lap and refused to let him leave.

The next thing was that the doctor wanted to take a closer look at the scars, and left the room so that Francis could take off Peace's dress so that she was simply in her bloomers. The doctor traced the scars on Peace's back and on her chest. Peace stayed very close to her Papa, she wouldn't even let him get off of the examination table. While the doctor looked at her back Peace was facing Francis and playing with his hands to try to entertain herself. While the doctor looked at her chest and stomach Francis rubbed his daughter's back so that she would be calm. She just looked up at the doctor and watched him, not afraid to openly stare. She knew that if her daddy was here he would tell her not to, but she didn't care. When the doctor was done Francis simply pulled the yellow dress over Peace and made her laugh to help her feel a little better. While the nurse took Peace to go get x-rays the doctor asked Francis to stay behind, and he did without a fight.

The sad and tired look that the doctor had on his face wasn't encouraging to Francis as he listened to what the doctor said, "Why doesn't she speak? "

Francis shrugged, "She's never spoken. I don't think that she ever learned how."

The doctor nodded and scratched something down on a sheet of paper, "I looked at those scars. I believe that they were caused by a knife, or something that resembled a knife. Has she ever showed any fear of knives or anything?"

"Yes, actually. She doesn't go into the kitchen unless Arthur or I are in there, and we found that if she's around while we're using knives she'll watch us as if we were going to do something."

There was a moment of silence before the doctor spoke again, "I think that Peace was abused by her previous care taker, and then was left where you found her to die. I'm surprised that she had lasted as long as you say she did while she was out there. You and Arthur now have legal custody over her, correct?"

"We're working on it, the papers are being processed. We'll be getting a letter about it at the end of the week."

"Regardless of what the x-rays come up with, I want Peace to go to a counselor. She's obviously been through something, and I would like to find out what it was."

While the x-rays were finished up the doctor and Francis set up a counselor's meeting for the next week. When Peace came back the doctor helped her up onto the examination table and bent down so that the two were at eye level. He asked her some questions. Had Peace ever been taught how to talk? Peace nodded yes. Why didn't she talk anymore? Peace frowned and started to tear up, putting her hands on the back of her knees. The doctor looked over his shoulder to Francis, who sighed and nodded. The doctor stood back and Francis took his spot, and told Peace that the doctor needed to check something. The small girl shook her head no, but her father insisted and took off the girl's bloomers and tights while she pounded on the older man's chest. She was set down on the floor again so that her back was facing the doctor, who seemed to see what he needed to. The little girl just started to cry and ducked down so that the skirt of her dressed covered her feet while she wiped at her eyes.

When the little girl calmed down she was sitting on her Papa's lap, who was holding a baggie of Cheerios to keep the girl from starving until they were able to get to lunch. The doctor was explaining the x-rays to Francis. It seemed like both of Peace's legs had been broken at one point, as well as her right arm. That was the worst of it, the two knew that Peace had been hurt, but everything seemed to have healed well. Her blood work came back and they found that she did have some slight problems, but some vitamins would solve that. In the end Peace was healthy and she only needed to take the vitamins, which was good news to Francis. When Francis found out that she needed shoots his face went a little pale, feeling horrible that the little girl would scream at the top of her lungs and cry. It was a surprise when he looked down to see that the little girl was fast asleep against her Papa's arms. She slept through the shoots, and only woke up when the nurse put the last band aid on.

When the boys got home they went straight to their homework. Peace ran between the two rooms with her dolls and animals, she would watch Alfred for a little while and then she would show him something that the doctor did at the appointment today and then watched over her brother's shoulder for a little. Then she would run over to Matthew's room and show him the same thing before sitting down and coloring on the floor by her brother's desk. She didn't seem to mind that she went to the doctor's, and was happy when the two were done so they could go have a tea party in the backyard. It had cooled down so they all put their coats on before they headed out. When Arthur came home Francis was the first one that he talked to. Francis explained what happened at the doctor's office and how Peace had an appointment the next week that her Daddy would have to take her to.

"So the doctor thinks she was abused," Arthur mused while he watched the kids from the garden room.

"It would make sense," Francis explained while he read the newspaper in his chair. "Those scars are very elaborate."

The two were silent for a moment before Arthur spoke up again, "What do you think will come up at the appointment next week?"

"I have no clue, mon ami."

Arthur thought for a moment before going on a search for the pictures that Peace had drawn, maybe there was something the pictures could shed some light on what his daughter had been through in the past.


End file.
